the.com/bilge
the lowest point on a ship, where everything wet and unwanted goes to fester
means The rounded lowest part of a ship's hull where stagnant water collects, and by extension, foul-smelling nonsense or worthless talk.
from A nautical word from the 1500s, almost certainly a variant of 'bulge,' which traced back through Old French 'boulge' to a Late Latin word for a leather bag or sack — the swollen, bulging belly of a hull. The stink of the water that pooled there gave us the figurative 'bilge' meaning rubbish or rot, a sailor's insult that drifted ashore.
- smell
- Bilge water reeks so badly it has a name: bilge stench
- slang
- Calling talk bilge means it's worthless nonsense
- the pump
- Bilge pumps are a boat's last line against sinking
- toxic brew
- It mixes oil, salt, fuel, sludge, and sewage
- curved hull
- Bilge names where ship's bottom turns to side
titanic bilge pumps — ship's bilge water overwhelmed pumps during 1912 sinking, contributing to rapid flooding
bilge rat — rats that infested ship bilges historically, spreading disease across oceans and continents
bilge keel — fin-like protrusion on ship hulls reducing rolling motion by disrupting water flow in bilge areas